Tavares Counting On Scoring

Lake Sports - High School Soccer Previews

TAVARES -- When teams play the Tavares girls soccer team this season, they won't be able to key on just one player.

Seniors Paige Barton and Coral Lore team with sophomore DeAnne Fanta to give the Bulldogs the most complete offensive game in the area.

Barton and Lore have played together for four years.

"I think this year we'll be pretty good," Barton said. "We have an easier district and that helps."

The easier district Barton is talking about is one that doesn't include state powers Orlando Bishop Moore and Daytona Beach Seabreeze, but still includes rival Mount Dora along with Daytona Beach Father Lopez and Crescent City, the two playoff clubs from the district last season.

"I think districts is a pretty big goal and having a winning record," Lore said. "We are still playing a pretty hard schedule. We're playing Orangewood Christian and South Lake, and those are almost Bishop Moore-level teams, so it's not like we've dropped all our hard teams. They just aren't in district any more."

Barton played quite a bit of forward last season but will be asked to play more midfield this season, which the Bulldogs hope let them take advantage of her playmaking ability.

Lore, a sweeper/midfielder, is described by her coach as being "strong, aggressive and a great playmaker who in addition to being a great playmaker, creates many scoring opportunities for the team," on her way to earning the team's most valuable player.

DeAnne Fanta, daughter of Coach Gary Fanta, tied with Lore for the team lead in scoring, is the team's fastest player and was named Tavares' best offensive player last season, along with Barton.

This cohesiveness gives Tavares a shot at the Class A, District 4 crown.

"We have enough talent that if the girls work hard, we should do well in our district and hopefully move on to the regional tournament," Gary Fanta said.

Tavares' new district isn't a cakewalk. Mount Dora has gone 20-20-7 over the past two seasons and earned its first-ever berth into the state playoffs in 1999.

The Hurricanes were seeded second in the district but missed out on a spot in the state playoffs last year when they lost to Crescent City on penalty kicks in the district semifinals.

"It's going to be competitive," Mount Dora Coach Ron Richards said. "The northern teams [Pierson Taylor and Crescent City] play a little bit rougher than the teams play around here and Father Lopez has a lot of players that play club ball and they are better skilled than anyone in the district."

Wildwood and Umatilla join Tavares and Mount Dora in District 4. Eustis is paired up once again with state powers Bishop Moore, Seabreeze and Port Orange Atlantic in Class 2A, District 6.

"We play in an impossible district," Eustis Coach Doug Stavey said. "If we were in a different district, it would be a different story."

Wildwood's fledgling program, meanwhile, is looking for its first-ever soccer victory and will be more equipped than it was last season.

Leesburg is teamed up with Brooksville Central, New Port Richey Mitchell, New Port Richey Ridgewood and Spring Hill Springstead.

South Lake will compete in Class 4A, District 3 with Apopka, Dr. Phillips, Edgewater, Evans, Olympia, Osceola and West Orange.